Somerset Poacher, The

Most English people will know the song “The Lincolnshire Poacher” with its jaunty tune which has passed into popular psyche. However, in living tradition, Lincolnshire is only one of the locations ascribed to this particular poacher, and Northamptonshire, Somerset(shire), Yorkshire and Gloucestershire have all featured. In fact, on printed broadsides, Northamptonshire comes out top. In oral tradition it has been found only in England.